"The leader must never close the gap between himself and the group. If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk a tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must exert."Vince Lombardi

When asked who won, Babcock said, “Well it doesn’t really matter as long as you don’t lose. It’s like going bear hunting, you take a slow guy with you in case the bear is hungry.”

"The leader must never close the gap between himself and the group. If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk a tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must exert."Vince Lombardi

When asked who won, Babcock said, “Well it doesn’t really matter as long as you don’t lose. It’s like going bear hunting, you take a slow guy with you in case the bear is hungry.”

"The leader must never close the gap between himself and the group. If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk a tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must exert."Vince Lombardi

When asked who won, Babcock said, “Well it doesn’t really matter as long as you don’t lose. It’s like going bear hunting, you take a slow guy with you in case the bear is hungry.”

I've seen worse muggings before in hockey. The result is what made it look so bad. I don't think Thornton was trying to end Orpik's career or else he would have dropped his gloves and decked him with a real swinging punch.

I have no problem with him being suspended, though. It was a cheap move.

Orpik is a D-bag, though. There's a lot of players in the league that would like to do that to him.

This makes me want to puke. We should roll this into the "retaliation" thread just so everybody can get a good look at what the "code" has become. Hit a guy clean, and some mongoloid comes along and cripples you just for the sake of being a tough guy. Ugh, how can people even pretend that there's some sort of honor in NHL fighting these days?

GMRwings: "Well, in other civilized countries, 16 years old isn't considered underage. For instance, I believe the age of consent is 16 in Canada. There's some US states where it's 16 as well.

Orpik should've fought him the first time two cheap shots on bruins players led to it...Thornton will get a suspension but I don't blame him.

This makes me want to puke. We should roll this into the "retaliation" thread just so everybody can get a good look at what the "code" has become. Hit a guy clean, and some mongoloid comes along and cripples you just for the sake of being a tough guy. Ugh, how can people even pretend that there's some sort of honor in NHL fighting these days?

This makes me want to puke. We should roll this into the "retaliation" thread just so everybody can get a good look at what the "code" has become. Hit a guy clean, and some mongoloid comes along and cripples you just for the sake of being a tough guy. Ugh, how can people even pretend that there's some sort of honor in NHL fighting these days?

There is no "code"

I've seen muggings from he 70's and 80's that make this incident look like kissing. Thornton went over the line, but that's always happened in different eras as well. You can't take that out of hockey even if you neuter players like Thornton. Hockey players in bad moods sometimes go over the line.

Orpik didn't help himself any by being Brooks Orpik, one of the most disliked defenders in the league.

I've seen muggings from he 70's and 80's that make this incident look like kissing. Thornton went over the line, but that's always happened in different eras as well. You can't take that out of hockey even if you neuter players like Thornton. Hockey players in bad moods sometimes go over the line.

Orpik didn't help himself any by being Brooks Orpik, one of the most disliked defenders in the league.

I'm not sure what your point is here. That because Brooks Orpik is unlikeable he should be mugged for clean hits and seriously injured? Or that this is ok because it would have been worse in the 70's and 80's?

It's a joke. They do it because they can. Hit him with a HUGE suspension and all the sudden his "bad mood" doesn't result in a hospital trip for soemeone else.

Maybe you should have a look at the knee to the head he did. The eriksson hit was clean though - he was mauled for a different reason

EDIT maybe it wasn't orpik that kneed him

Orpik didn't knee Marchand, Neal did. Maybe you should look it up.

GMRwings: "Well, in other civilized countries, 16 years old isn't considered underage. For instance, I believe the age of consent is 16 in Canada. There's some US states where it's 16 as well.

I'm not sure what your point is here. That because Brooks Orpik is unlikeable he should be mugged for clean hits and seriously injured? Or that this is ok because it would have been worse in the 70's and 80's?

It's a joke. They do it because they can. Hit him with a HUGE suspension and all the sudden his "bad mood" doesn't result in a hospital trip for soemeone else.

Orpik didn't knee Marchand, Neal did. Maybe you should look it up.

Well your post was about what the code has become. I'm just pointing out that enforcers haven't always followed the code in earlier eras. Not sure why you think it has become worse than it was before.

The code has never been anything more than a word with no real definition.

As someone who's a big proponent of fighting in hockey, I hate to see s*** like this because I know what it's eventually going to lead too. Stuff like this by Thornton, and John Scott attacking a skill player, is going to get fighting banned in hockey. This isn't the 70's or the 80's anymore, enforcers need to provide protection and keep teams honest. Not attack players who are considerably more talented then them, clean hit? Sure, please do. That's your role, dirt like this? You're going to cost yourself a job down the line. When even Don Cherry (pro fighting, pro Bruins) is visibly upset by it, you know it's not good.

I've seen muggings from he 70's and 80's that make this incident look like kissing. Thornton went over the line, but that's always happened in different eras as well. You can't take that out of hockey even if you neuter players like Thornton. Hockey players in bad moods sometimes go over the line.

Orpik didn't help himself any by being Brooks Orpik, one of the most disliked defenders in the league.

I must disagree in that for a long time there absolutely was an established, albeit unwritten, code. It died when the instigator rule came in. Sure, back in the guy some guys were playing on the edge or over it, but they knew they would have to answer the bell for it later on. That doesn't happen anymore. That coupled with the increase in equipment protection has led to complete disrespect amongst a lot of the players.